


A Romantic, Titanic Sort of Way

by paperjamBipper



Category: We Bare Bears (TV)
Genre: Bubble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hallucinations, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Titanic References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 09:16:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19206391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper
Summary: After the trudge back to the cave from the toxic waste dump, Charlie says he’s too tired to walk back to his own home in the forest and wants to stay the night. Panda sees it as a great opportunity for a movie night to calm everyone’s nerves, but soon finds something…uncomfortably familiar about the events of his favorite movie.





	A Romantic, Titanic Sort of Way

Charlie says he wants to stay the night.

Honestly, Panda can’t blame him. After a day like today, Panda can’t even begin to imagine how exhausted Charlie must feel, swimming through and almost drowning in thick toxic waste just to try to save his life.

Panda really owes him. Even if he wasn’t able to save him in the literal sense, Charlie did so much for him today in the figurative sense than he’ll ever be able to imagine. He almost spent the rest of his days living in a plastic _bubble._ All because of a stupid movie.

And it was because of that stupid movie that he almost lost the most important person in his life. Seriously, Panda’s not sure he’s ever felt more terrified in his entire life than having to watch Charlie drown in the toxic waste while he couldn’t do anything but watch. He’ll be having nightmares about that for sure.

On the other hand, Panda’s also never felt _stronger_ in his life than when he pulled Charlie out of the toxic waste at the last minute. The _moment_ he saw Charlie going under, he felt as though he could knock over a _building_ in that tiny bubble of his. _Something_ about almost losing Charlie gave him more strength than he’s ever felt in his entire life. Physical strength, sure, but there’s much more to the story than what he told his brothers.

Charlie practically clung to him the moment his head resurfaced from the swamp. As soon as he seemed to realize that _he_ was the one being rescued, and _Panda_ was the one doing the rescuing, he broke down into tears on the spot. He flung himself at Panda and wouldn’t let go, not even when Panda stood up to give him more breathing space.

Panda had never seen Charlie acting so vulnerable in his entire life. Emotional, yes, and clingy he’s seen hundreds of times, but he never really saw Charlie demonstrate such _raw_ emotion before. It really made him realize how much he must _really_ mean to Charlie.

Charlie, of course, the selfless person he is, tried to offer to carry Panda back. He was willing to dive back _into_ the waste he almost drowned in _with Panda’s extra weight on his back_ just so Panda wouldn’t have to “touch any of the germs”.

He wouldn’t hear it. _You’ve done so much for me,_ he’d said. _I think it’s way past time I returned the favor._ Without waiting for a single word of protest, he scooped Charlie up into his arms and swam the way back himself.

And for the entire way back, Charlie wouldn’t stop staring at him with these big, star-struck eyes, like he was the most important thing in Charlie’s life.

He can’t turn him away. “Of course you can stay the night, Charlie”, Panda pipes up before either of his brothers can protest. “You can even stay with me in my room, if you’d like”

He purposely leaves out the part where he really wants to make sure he’s okay. If Charlie walked back to his own home, and he ended up getting sick from the toxic waste, and he didn’t have any of the proper materials to take care of himself, but felt too sick to  walk all the way back over to the cave, and-

“Really? You’d let me stay with you?” Charlie’s grinning.

“Of course, Charlie” he smiles shyly and sends a downcast glance to the ground. “You’re my best bud”.

He can _hear_ Charlie’s barely-contained squeal, he’s grinning that hard. “Well, I…” he gins even wider. “If you insist”

He grins back, and closely follows Charlie inside.

* * *

 

“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” Panda asks sometime later, when the four of them are sitting on the couch to watch a movie.

Charlie shrugs from the arm of the couch next to him before he winds one of his arms around Panda. "I’m always comfortable with you, Pan-Pan” he smiles, leaning over to squish him in a side-hug.

Panda snickers at that, and instead of pushing away he leans into Charlie to accept his embrace. “That wasn’t what I meant, Charlie”

Charlie lets out a small giggle of his own and closes his eyes against the top of Panda’s head. “I know”

Panda giggles, and he’s about to playfully shove at Charlie’s head and call him _gross_ when the beeping from the microwave from the other room snaps them both from their thoughts.

“You guys ready for movie night?” Grizz exclaims, popping his head in from the kitchen holding a bowl overflowing with fresh popcorn. “Need any refreshments before we start? Charlie? Panda?”

Panda smiles at Charlie, still burying his face into Panda’s fur, clearly not listening to a word Grizz just said.

“We’re all set” Panda says, gesturing to the jar of Cheese Poofies sitting at his feet.

“Sweet!” Grizz says, tiptoeing past their jar to join Panda on the couch. Ice Bear joins soon after with his own bowl of popcorn. Panda gently nudges at Charlie to pay attention as soon as Grizz reaches for the remote. “Alright!” he exclaims, flipping the TV on to whichever channel it was last on before pointing at Charlie with it. “Since _Charlie_ is our guest of honor,” Grizz points the remote at Panda, “and _Panda_ here is like, a lifesaving hero, I vote that _they_ should be the ones to decide which movie to start with”

Ice Bear nods. “Ice Bear seconds Panda and Charlie to get control over remote”.

“Woah, seriously?” Panda takes the remote from Grizz. “You guys never let me pick what we watch; you always say my taste is so…cheesy and boring”

“Yeah, but you’re a hero now, man! Heroes always get pick of the movie. Plus, c’mon, look at Charlie. He’d probably love anything you choose, the way he’s holding you like that”

Panda blushes, and sends a quick glance over to Charlie beside him. He’s practically wrapped himself around him, and that sweet smile of his hasn’t left his face since he sat down. He smiles as he flips through the guide, making sure to jump ahead to the HD movie channels so he doesn’t miss anything good.

He _gasps_ when he sees that Titanic is starting in five minutes. “Ah, Charlie!” Panda exclaims, excitedly shaking at him. “This is my favorite movie _ever,_ have you seen it?”

Charlie squints at the screen. “Hmm. Ti-tan-ic” he reads, stressing out each syllable. “Can’t say I have. What’s it about?”

“Ahh, it’s so good!” Panda squeals, squirming in his seat in excitement.  “So it’s based on this true story about this _really_ fancy ship that heads out to sea for fun, and the main character is this girl named Rose, and she meets this _super cute_ guy named Jack, and-” he stops himself to prevent himself from getting too carried away. “You _have_ to see it Charlie! It’s the best!” Panda grins, holding the remote out to Charlie.

But Charlie only grins back and rejects the remote, pushing it back towards Panda. “I’d love to see it if it’s your favorite” he grins, and smooches the top of Panda’s head. “Anything for my sweet Pan-Pan”

“Oh, stop” Panda smiles, and nudges at Charlie before he changes the channel to watch the remainder of the end credits of the movie that had been playing before Titanic. “It’s just a movie”

“Aw, but not to you it isn’t! And what’s important to you is important to me”.

Panda snickers, and sits up to place the remote on the table in front of the couch. As soon as he settles back into his seat, there’s Charlie, winding his arm back around him like he doesn’t ever want to let him go. Panda guesses today must’ve had just as bad a mental impact on Charlie as it did physical. It’s easy to forget that Panda himself was also in danger, so it’s safe to assume that Charlie’s just as shaken up over Panda’s wellbeing as he is about Charlie.

Panda places a hand of his own on Charlie’s back as the opening scene begins, to indicate he isn’t panning on moving for a while.  Out of the corner of his eye, with help from the glow of the TV screen, Panda can see Charlie grin widely at the gesture.

The movie’s just as great as Panda remembers it. He hasn’t been able to watch it in years, since he misplaced the copy he borrowed from the library ages ago and it never comes on TV, but everything is just as he remembers it. The costumes, the music, and the _romance_ are just as amazing as it was the first ten times he watched it. The scene where Jack and Rose are standing at the edge of the boat at sunset is still the cutest scene in the movie, and the car scene still makes Panda so flustered that he has to watch it by peeking through his paws that he always inevitably covers his face with.

Charlie ends up super invested in it, too. Every few minutes he turns to Panda and whispers him a question about _this_ line or _that_ background character or what does _this_ mean, and when they first met Panda had just assumed it meant he wasn’t paying attention, but Panda eventually learned that Charlie’s questions were a tell-tale sign that he loves what he’s watching. The constant questions used to bother Panda, but now he’s happy to answer what he can of them.

It’s going great. His favorite person loves his favorite movie.

It’s going great, until all of a sudden, it isn’t.

It’s the scene where, after the ship sinks, Jack and Rose find each other in the frigid water. _Charlie’s_ super invested in the scene, so much so that he’s sitting at the edge of the couch arm with his hands covering his mouth. He knows _he’s_ seen it thousands of times, he knows he’s _quoted_ it thousands of times, and he knows he’s seen other movies and shows _parody_ the scene a thousand times, so he doesn’t know why he’s suddenly feeling himself really uneasy.

But then he blinks, and suddenly it’s not Jack in the frozen water on screen, it’s _Charlie._

“Huh?” Panda vocalizes, and rubs at his eyes. But now it’s no longer Rose on the raft, it’s _himself._  He shakes his head and tries to blame it on exhaustion, but it doesn’t work. As soon as they’re about to exchange the _iconic_ “ _Never let go”_ lines, suddenly the entire screen changes. Instead of the ocean, on the debris of a sunken ship, and instead of Jack in the water and Rose on the raft, it’s _Charlie in the toxic swamp and Panda trapped inside his bubble._

“Stop it!” Panda shouts, at nobody in particular, and lunges forward to grab at the remote. “Stop it, stop it!” He frantically attempts to pause the movie, and when he frantically drops the remote after finally getting it to work, he looks around and notices that Charlie and his brothers are staring at him. Charlie’s about to say something, he can tell, but Panda jumps up off of the couch and runs into his room too quickly to hear it.

He buries himself under his blanket and covers his head with his pillow, but before he can do much else there’s a knock on his door.

“Pan-Pan? You okay?” Charlie asks, and Panda stands to open the door with his blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. He sits back down on his bed, and Charlie’s quick to join him at his side, frowning. “I thought you loved that movie”.

“I do!” Panda throws his arms up in the air. “I love it! It’s my favorite movie. I just-” he glances down at his bedroom floor. “It felt too real this time. I couldn’t stand it”

“Aww, Pan-Man, it’s like you said! It’s just a movie. Those two were probably fine. I bet that water wasn’t even that cold-”

“That’s not what I meant!” Panda interrupts. “I mean, Charlie, didn’t you see it? Rose wanted to save Jack from the water more than anything. But she couldn’t. There wasn’t enough room, and she was too tired, and trapped inside that stupid bubble-”

He clasps his paws over his mouth, tears welling in his eyes. He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. “ _You,_ Charlie. You were Jack, and I was Rose, when we were out there in that toxic swamp today, and you were sinking, and I couldn’t do anything to help you, and you could’ve-”

He starts weeping, and he throws himself at Charlie, clinging harder than he’s ever clung to anything in his life. “I almost let you _die,_ Charlie”.

Charlie clings equally hard to Panda, holding his head close to him. “Aw, hey, don’t say that! You saved me. You’re my hero. Always have been” he smooches the top of Panda’s head, which somehow makes Panda cry even harder.

“Only because _you_ were out there trying to save me first”

Charlie laughs. “Of course! I’m always willing to help my best bud out of danger”.

_What did he do to deserve him?_ “But I was being such a dingle to you, Charlie. I was insulting you, and pushing you away, and-” he wipes at the tears on his face, but Charlie interrupts him before he can continue on.

“You’re my best bud, Panda, seriously. The forest animals are great, and your brothers are really fun to hang with, but if I could only pick one for the rest of my life, I’d go with you, easy.”

Panda can’t bring himself to let go of Charlie look at him. “ _Why?”_

Charlie pats at the top of his head. “That’s easy, pumpkin. You’re so creative, and talented, and friendly, and always so eager. I never met anyone else like you. I don’t know anyone else who would come out in the middle of the woods looking for me because they heard a hurricane was coming! And you went as far as coming to find me because you wanted to help me prepare.”

He smooches the top of Panda’s head again, a gesture that Panda’s so used to that he can’t help but smile when he receives it. “Remember what you and your brothers said, right after I met Ralph? You’re a good person, Panda. Just like you say I am”

He pauses to bury his head into Panda’s fur, hold on just a bit tighter.

“I love you, Panda. I almost lost you today. I don’t want to do that again. I heard you say that you need me, pumpkin. Well, I need you too”.

Panda sniffles, but buries himself into Charlie. “I love you too, Charlie” he mumbles, not quite sure if it was loud enough for Charlie to hear. But there’s another smooch at the top of his head, an indicator that he did. They stay as they are for another moment before Panda finally pulls away and stands from his bed.

“You wanna go back out there and finish the end of the movie? It’s a really good one”

Charlie smiles, and stands up to follow Panda back into the living room. The movie’s still paused, and Grizz and Ice are whispering among themselves when the two of them come back into the living room.

Eh, Panda can fill them in on the details in the morning.

He sits back down on the couch and presses play on the remote as Charlie takes his place back beside him with an arm going around his shoulder.

“Hey, Charlie?” he whispers a few moments later.

“Yeah?”

Panda leans against Charlie. “Never let me go, Charlie”

Charlie smiles, and leans against Panda as well. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Pan-Pan”.


End file.
